From the Pub to the Grand National: Across The Bay and the Scotch Piper Syndicate

In 2014, three mates from Merseyside watched their syndicate horse lead the Grand National.

Across The Bay had jumped The Chair in front and was heading round for another circuit of the famous Aintree course.

Six years earlier, they’d gone for a drink at the Scotch Piper in Lydiate and ended up talking about the possibility of buying a racehorse.

What started as one of those ideas thrown around over a few drinks soon became something much more serious.

They bought a horse.

He took them to a Grade 2 winner’s enclosure, three Grand Nationals and a moment at Aintree when the daft idea they’d had in the pub suddenly didn’t seem quite so crazy.

The Scotch Piper Syndicate Starts Over a Pint

The Scotch Piper Syndicate took its name from the pub in Lydiate, north of Liverpool, where a group of racing mates first started talking about owning a horse together.

In 2008, they decided to actually do it.

The group travelled to Ireland and visited Noel Meade’s yard, where they were shown half a dozen prospects. They settled on an unnamed four-year-old gelding by Bob’s Return for €25,000, who would remain in Ireland to be trained by Meade.

The syndicate changed shape over the years, but three names would eventually remain at the centre of the story: Graham Worsley and brothers Kevin and Anthony Coyne.

The horse still needed a name.

Over lunch with Meade in Galway, they looked out across the water and found one.

Across The Bay.

Ireland Was Only the First Chapter

By 2011, the original racing syndicate had reached a crossroads. Some members wanted out, while Graham Worsley and brothers Kevin and Anthony Coyne wanted to carry on with Across The Bay and bring him to Britain.

The cleanest way to settle it was the sales ring.

Across The Bay went through Doncaster and made £10,000, with Kevin Coyne buying him on behalf of the three remaining owners.

Same horse, same syndicate name, but a smaller ownership group and a new trainer.

Across The Bay was sent to Donald McCain in Cheshire.

At seven, after three seasons in Ireland, it could easily have been the quieter half of his career.

Instead, he got better.

They Could Have Taken the Money

In the weeks before the 2013 Grand National, the Scotch Piper Syndicate received a six figure offer for Across The Bay, with a percentage of any prize money he earned at Aintree also included.

It was serious money for three men who had bought one racehorse together for fun.

They turned it down.

There was no way of knowing then what Across The Bay would go on to earn, or whether his value would ever be as high again. But by this point, that wasn’t really what they were measuring him against.

Worsley’s interest in racing had started with family trips to the Grand National. Now he had a horse capable of running in it.

The money was there to be taken but so was the chance to go to Aintree as owners.

They chose Aintree.

Across The Bay Goes to the Grand National

Across The Bay lined up for the 2013 Grand National carrying 11st 2lb under Henry Brooke.

He wasn’t there merely to make up the numbers.

Brooke allowed him to use his stamina and Across The Bay spent much of the race prominently positioned, leading for a long way before the effort eventually caught up with him. He finished 14th behind Auroras Encore.

For most syndicates, simply getting a horse around Aintree would provide enough material for several years of pub conversation.

The Scotch Piper Syndicate came back twelve months later.

The National That Got Away

Across The Bay returned for the 2014 Grand National with 10st 11lb and Brooke back aboard.

Once again, he went forward.

He jumped, travelled and found his rhythm. As the field passed the stands and headed out for another circuit, Across The Bay was leading the Grand National.

For three owners from Merseyside, it must have been an incredible sight.

Then Tidal Bay appeared.

The high-class staying chaser Tidal Bay had unseated Sam Twiston-Davies earlier in the race and was running loose.

Across The Bay, meanwhile, had led the field past the stands and was beginning the second circuit when Tidal Bay suddenly veered across his path, carrying him away from the course and destroying his position.

In a matter of seconds, the advantage was gone.

Jockey Henry Brooke managed to gather Across The Bay again and, remarkably, worked his way back onto the rear of the main field. But the effort required to get there had taken its toll.

He eventually finished 14th.

Nobody can know where Across The Bay would have finished without that interference. There are too many variables in a Grand National to claim that the race was his to win.

But the Scotch Piper Syndicate had seen their horse leading the Grand National at Aintree before circumstances completely beyond his control changed his race.

They could hardly be blamed for wondering what might have been.

One Horse Was Enough

Across The Bay returned for a third Grand National in 2015. By then his best days were behind him, and he was pulled up in the race won by Many Clouds. His final appearance came at Aintree the following month.

His career ended with 43 starts under Rules, eight victories and more than £140,000 in win and place prize money.

Which makes that six-figure offer the Scotch Piper Syndicate rejected before the 2013 National rather interesting. Depending on the exact figure, selling him may have brought in as much as he earned throughout his entire career.

But this was never really about maximising the return.

The syndicate found Across The Bay as an unnamed youngster in Ireland, retained him through the sales ring when the ownership changed and sent him to Donald McCain. He became a Grade 2 winner and ran in three Grand Nationals.

For a British racing syndicate that started with a few mates talking about buying a horse in the pub, that’s some return.

Six years later, they were watching that horse lead the Grand National.